“Because sometimes you have to do something bad to do something good.”

—

Oscar Wilde

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Curiosity can be a cruel friend on occasion.

Ok.

I imagine I could say that being curious is a cruel gift. The curious are always on a trajectory of … well … more. It is difficult to ever attain “enough” if you are curious. This is different than unlearning this is actually just about insatiable learning. Each step never begets a desire to rest but rather to take another step toward some unseen horizon. This comes at a cost.

I share this graph I drew because most curious people do not always assess any consequential cost-benefit analysis when embracing this seemingly infinite abyss <or, more positively, a well> of curiosity.

It doesn’t really matter if your curiosity drags you down the more shallow slope of surface breadth of tantalizing “one learning begets a path to another learning” or the more focused depth of “how much can I learn about this” … the temptation of curiosity is more often cruel than it is pleasant.

This means curiosity goes where it may … even if the outcome is harmful, useless or endless. This also means the curious, in a cruel twist of fate, are often treated as ‘ignorant’ of what is important with regard to using their time <this happens often in aa business world of “measurement of doing not thinking“>.

Even with all that cruelty … suffice it to say people, in general, have a tendency to go above and beyond but the curious are almost addicted to the above & beyond. This seemingly instinctual urge to gain information we don’t really need is extraneous — and at its most extreme, dangerous.

Dangerous? Well … yeah.

If you think about it, having an overactive curiosity muscle is almost counter intuitive to evolutionary theory, i.e., the most curious among us should’ve been killed off pretty quickly. And, yet, curiosity has survived, people have survived and the undeniable drive to actively pursue “above & beyond’ survives.

That doesn’t mean it is any less cruel … just that it permits survival.

The other cruel aspect of curiosity is its uncomfortably close relationship with ignorance. Theoretically curiosity exists to remove ignorance. Far be it from me to point out that if your curiosity is never completely sated then ignorance remains, exists and is most likely bigger than ever before.

Oh.

I did point that out.

Cruelty … plain cruelty.

I imagine someone could embrace ignorance and avoid the cruel aspects of curiosity although I would suggest a closed mind actually expands ignorance. And as ignorance expands … within that growing emptiness … I would imagine at some point someone is going to be tempted to know what lightning was, what the stars were, how something can be done better, done faster or just done, or even why someone got sick and someone got better … or whatever temptation may arise within ignorance?

Temptation is temptation.

Ah.

The thorns of curiosity. The cruelty of curiosity has never stopped the curious even despite the fact that most of the curious are not particularly good at assessing long term consequences nor are they particularly good at assessing the cost/benefit analysis.

In July 2016 The Scientific American magazine published an article called — Curiosity Is Not Intrinsically Good <The human drive to resolve uncertainty is so strong that people will look for answers even when it’s obvious those answers will be painful>. I would point out that does not mean curiosity is not good just that if you do not manage your curiosity well … that s not good.

Look.

Curiosity may be cruel. Curious people may suck at cost benefit analysis, assessing consequences of their curious time investment and gathering useful information versus useless information … but sometimes you have to do something bad to do something good.

As with everything else in Life … the best of the curious learn to manage their addiction. They learn to balance the depth versus the breadth, the time invested versus the return on their investment and while they know that their curiosity can be cruel at times … they just learn to carry some band aids for the times they prick their fingers on the inevitable thorns.

I still believe we, as a society, would be a much healthier society if we handed out band aids and encouraged more curiosity rather than curb curiosity by suggesting it is most useful to ‘the dreamers.’ In fact … back in July 2010 I even suggested a “National Program to Support Childhood Curiosity” directed toward kids <with Curiosity Fulfillment teachers>. I still believe this would be a better initiative than most of the more focused, but misguided, initiatives it seems like we craft for our children these days.

Regardless. Curiosity can be a cruel gift … but a gift nonetheless.

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“To myself I am only a child playing on the beach, while vast oceans of truth lie undiscovered before me.”

“The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow Roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars.”

==

Jack Kerouac

<On the Road>

————

Look.

I am pretty sure Jack Kerouac was a certifiable loon <not a British type loon but a real America one>. Certainly a troubled guy. He was most certainly an alcoholic. Probably suffered from depression. And was a very bitter guy. In addition, I find almost everything he wrote unreadable <except the opening quote … which is awesome>.

Some critics called his writing style poor stream of conscious typewriting <I do know Truman Capote wasn’t a huge fan of his writing style and actually said about Kerouac’s writing … “That’s not writing, it’s typing”>. I know I call most of his writing “diary of a free wheelin’ guy’s life” <and I find most diaries unreadable>. Maybe we could just think of it maybe as a 50s version of MTV’s Road Rules.

Regardless.

The guy was a quotable machine. And the quote I began this post with is maybe his best. Think about it.

“The only people for me are the mad ones …”.

Awesome. People who ‘burn burn burn’. Desirous of everything at the same time.

Think about that.

We meet so few of these people in our lifetimes. And the ones you meet scare you.

Fascinate you.

Awe you.

Puzzle you.

Confuse you.

Inspire you.

But in the end they dare you.

Dare you to burn.

Burn without flaming out. Just burn.

These people set the standard for life. They aren’t immature but infectiously young at their soul. They aren’t undisciplined yet rules mean nothing to them. They aren’t cocky yet have the ultimate confidence … to speak in silence … stand when others sit … stay when others go … go where others fear to step … step forward when others stand still … stand still when others stand back … be mad to live yet mad to be saved.

These people burn.

Constantly.

Oh.

And we cannot all be like them. In fact most of us will never even come close to being mad for anything or even come close to burning. Is that bad?

For some … no. Burning is dangerous. And unwieldy. And difficult to control. They are comfortable avoidng what they are sure is uncomfortable.

For others … yes. Their fear of a life of burning will drive them mad. Not mad to live. But a madness of wasted opportunities. A madness of regrets. A madness of never desiring everything at the same time for fear of ending with nothing.

C’mon Bruce <you are probably saying” … mad? Well. “To explode like spiders across the stars.” In my mind one would have to be mad not to desire that. And I imagine in some form or fashion even the most risk averse person has some desire for a feeling like this. So, yeah, fear of burning can drive some people mad.

Next.

So topping that quote and that thought is tough. So I won’t try. I will simply use another Kerouac sound bite that takes that first quote to the next level of the same thought.

—————

“I saw that my life was a vast glowing empty page and I could do anything I wanted.”

Jack Kerouac

———————

I imagine in order to embrace ‘burning’ in life it most likely takes this belief. A belief that you can do anything you want. That every day is a vast empty page. And that Life is there for you to fill the pages with anything you want. Well. There is not much more to say then that after reading that quote.

Ok.

To end this post I will use a Kerouac life quote. Just one last quote pulled from thousands of hours of his incessant drunken ramblings:

======================

“Maybe that’s what life is…a wink of the eye and winking stars.”

jack kerouac

==

This may be one of the most reasonable and most poetic quotes you may find from that wackjob. Ok. From anyone for that matter. And it is an awesome thought. An incredible thought. Try and filter these words through his eyes. Even through the bitterness. And the depression. And the madness. He recognized that life had a little wink in its eye. Maybe that is what Jack Kerouac saw through the haze of bitterness and alcohol and depression.

Hope.

Hope for a wink from a star. Well. Maybe that is the point for today. Maybe that is what all of us want – just a little wink from a star on occasion.

“When written in Chinese, the word crisis is composed of two characters. One represents danger, and the other represents opportunity.”

–

John F. Kennedy

==

Ok.

I love this quote. And a boatload of business management people do <dozens of books written using it>.

Uh oh. But it isn’t true.

Good ole JFK got it wrong <but he is in good company>.

The usual explanation is that the Chinese ideogram for “crisis” is made up of two characters signifying “opportunity” and “danger.” To us folk on this side of the planet this is a great example of the ancient East wisdom. And teachers, pontificators, self help specialists, motivational speakers and anyone who likes to tell people to find lemonade when given a basket of lemons have used this explanation.

The key lesson shared?

“A crisis provides an opportunity for change and growth as well as a danger of regression or stagnation.”

The Chinese word <not really an ideogram by the way> for crisis, when translated, literally means “dangerous, or precarious, moment.” That’s it. No ‘opportunity.’ No benefiting. Just danger. Or … maybe I should focus on the part I like … “a precarious moment.”

Not a bad lesson in itself. Crisis CAN be bad … but in reality is just all about having a precarious moment … that needs to be managed.

Just to be sure I cover all my bases as I tear down all that self-help mumbo jumbo people have absorbed and are putting in use day-to-day.

(through some research)

A mandarin expert breaks down the word and definition and wisdom mumbo-jumbo:

A whole industry of pundits and therapists has grown up around this one grossly inaccurate statement. A casual search of the Web turns up more than a million references to this spurious proverb. It appears, often complete with Chinese characters, on the covers of books, on advertisements for seminars, on expensive courses for “thinking outside of the box,” and practically everywhere one turns in the world of quick-buck business, pop psychology, and orientalist hocus-pocus. This catchy expression (Crisis = Danger + Opportunity) has rapidly become nearly as ubiquitous as The Tao of Pooh and Sun Zi’s Art of War for the Board / Bed / Bath / Whichever Room.

The explication of the Chinese word for crisis as made up of two components signifying danger and opportunity is due partly to wishful thinking, but mainly to a fundamental misunderstanding about how terms are formed in Mandarin and other Sinitic languages.

<that was awesome …>

Next.

While it is true that wēijī does indeed mean “crisis” and that the wēi syllable of wēijī does convey the notion of “danger,” the jī syllable of wēijī most definitely does not signify “opportunity.”

The jī of wēijī, in fact, means something like “incipient moment; crucial point (when something begins or changes).” Thus, a wēijī is indeed a genuine crisis, a dangerous moment, a time when things start to go awry. A wēijī indicates a perilous situation when one should be especially wary. It is not a juncture when one goes looking for advantages and benefits.

As the Mandarin language expert says quite succinctly … “In a crisis, one wants above all to save one’s skin and neck!”

As well as …

“Any would-be guru who advocates opportunism in the face of crisis should be run out of town on a rail, for his / her advice will only compound the danger of the crisis.”

I loved this guy.

A little wordy in his explanation but he was passionate about telling everyone how far off base they were on the whole crisis/opportunity thing. Sorry. No Eastern wisdom here. In this case the east and the west agreed that a crisis is bad, dangerous and to be wary of and that’s it.

Ok.

All that said <mostly said to enlighten everyone and piss off a boatload of publishers and book writers> let’s talk about crisis and the opportunities a crisis does actually create. Most of us quickly see the danger in a crisis… and we should … because it is exactly as translated … a precarious moment. Like its true Chinese definition a crisis is a crucial moment where things begin to go awry.

It is easy to overlook any opportunity within the crisis because, frankly, we are often just trying to survive <in other words … save our skin, neck & ass>.

And what makes this even more difficult is that the opportunity may be well hidden. The danger is always obvious and the most critical in our eye because the crisis creates potential personal harm. So what makes a crisis truly a “precarious moment” is that assuming you are seeking to find that elusive opportunity within the crisis … well … that with danger lurking its not that we forget to look for the opportunity but rather we seek to avoid the danger and the personal harm.

Lets call this for what it is … self preservation.

And that isn’t bad by the way. Because if you don’t survive the “opportunity” becomes irrelevant. It is natural to avoid danger during a crisis and make that THE priority. So, no, I am not going to suggest someone become an “opportunity person” when dealing with a crisis.

I believe people who can discover opportunities in a crisis are people who have already successfully managed the ‘precarious moment’ several times in the past. Maybe call it trial by fire. Maybe call it trial & error. But suffice it to say you ain’t gonna be seeking opportunities when dealing with your first true crisis.

Yes. Many people say that it was actually a crisis that caused them to make a much-needed change.

Yes. Living through a hard time challenges people to grow in ways that makes them more mature and opens them to new possibilities.

Where I would argue with people on this is that through surviving the crisis they … well … just found a better way to survive. And that’s not being opportunistic. That is simply survival instinct <compounded by understanding of what makes oneself happiest>.

Look.

Life constantly gives you opportunities … and gives you crisis also <unfortunately> … regardless … you get opportunities not just to take a chance but also just to improve your current state.

Here is the formula (although in this case I am not sure A + B = C).

(A) A crisis is a forced decision making moment (typically survival based).

(B) Decision making moments represent opportunities.

(C) Opportunities typically translate into some type of change.

And everyone, obviously, wants to capitalize on any change (who would choose to have a negative result from a decision?). If someone wants to claim a crisis represents an opportunity go ahead and do so … but please recognize that it is an indirect extended relationship. And in doing so you could be doing a disservice to people because it ignores what a crisis is truly about – survival.

Ok.

I do believe dealing with a crisis has a lot to do with attitude <which is possibly where many people get confused with this whole opportunity thing>.

A Pollyanna attitude? Nope.

Someone wrote: “Welcoming personal setbacks as rich opportunities for growth can help you survive them. Does that seem like a twisted point of view? After all, problems make us miserable, right? Scott Peck, author of The Road Less Traveled (Touchstone, 2003), considers them a gift — if you look at them in a deeper, less reactive manner. Indeed, they can give us clear perspective.”

Wow.

That is a bunch of bullhockey <bullshit>.

A crisis is just that. A crisis. A dangerous moment. A precarious moment.

Should we be seeking opportunities in the middle of a frickin’ crisis? Nope.

We should be seeking survival.

And that is where attitude comes in. Not “lets find the opportunity” or some baloney like that <or find the lemonade out of the lemons> but an attitude capturing a strength of character <I will be strong and overcome> and resiliency <survive>. Afterwards maybe you can look back and discover the opportunities that were an outcome from the crisis (although this has a slightly masochistic point of view in that from pain comes pleasure that kind of creeps me out) but when in a crisis … just deal with it.

Have a good attitude and explore all the possibilities/opportunities … once you have managed the experience itself.

Dealing with a true crisis takes character. HOW you deal with a crisis says almost as much as what you do to deal with a crisis. A crisis is a gauntlet. You have to have strength of character. And strength in resiliency. Please don’t measure yourself when dealing with a crisis by what opportunity you discovered from the crisis … measure yourself by how you survived.

A crisis.

It is a ‘precarious moment’ … a ‘crucial moment’ … a ‘dangerous moment.’

<East & West agree on this>

Seek to survive the moment. Don’t seek the opportunity for god’s sake. Just try and be aware should an opportunity arise <as you survive>. Leave the ‘opportunistic crisis management approach’ to people who write books and pontificate<but, please do not buy the books and live your life by all their bullshit>.

Oh.

And don’t misuse the Chinese definition of crisis. Because that is where this whole rant started. I am all for seeking opportunities and I have a shitload, too much, experience dealing with crises. But I will be honest … my first response in any crisis is “survival”. Once I can see, or sense, we will survive hen, yeah, I will most likely scan the horizon for some opportunities. But survival first.

“And I do not assume that my experience is universal. It is simply mine, and I offer it to you as a window, dirty though that window may be.”

–

opticalnoise (a blogger)

===============

Ah.

Sometimes young people say things with the type of panache you only expect from older people. This young blogger wrote the quote and I liked it enough to use it.

The basic thought many of us ignore. Experiences are personal <unless there is enough similar critical mass to make it quasi-universal>.

And in the business world I often find myself debating with people when they offer their experience as …. well … not dirty but rather … well … universal (and that is an issue).

Two basic thoughts.

– Research of one is not research.

– The odds that the person relating the experience <in business management> actually reflects mainstream American <or any mainstream consumer> is so low that, well, even Las Vegas wouldn’t take them odds.

Bottom line?

Realize that your experience is most likely not universal <particularly when discussing business … but beware when offering personal advice also>. This may seem like a no brainer, but I can’t tell you how often this basic rule is ignored. WE, even the most savviest behavioral people in business, ignore it all the time <alebet in degrees not wholesale>. I think a large part of it is that is because people personalize their experience <or their wife/husband’s/group of friends> that they cannot fathom that no one else feels exactly the same way.

Anyway.

All that said I am now going to share my dirty window experience list <although I actually stole the original thought from a blogger named arina and put my own dirt on some different windows>. I created the list because I almost have it all figured out <yeah … not so much>. Thinking back from my personal experiences I believe there are a few universal experiences <let’s call them windows we all peer through on occasion just for the sake of this post)> that seemingly work without fail throughout life:

– The Karma window

Karma is this random thing floating out there in the ether that somehow impacts cause & effect on all of us. Simplistically … for every action there is a reaction. Yeah. Every action <and thought just in case you have forgotten>. It is amazing to me how often we forget that our actions always, yes, always, have repercussions.

Whatever force we exert … things we send into the ether around us in the form of our thoughts, feelings and actions … comes back to us in kind (if not sometimes multiplied). There are no exceptions and you get no free passes. Oh. Please note I included thoughts & feelings in the “cause” column. That is truly the Karma aspect. Somehow … someway … thoughts & feelings enter into the ether as some type of tangible force (or ’cause’) that often creates a nuclear-sized effect. Never forget that.

– The Life window

This may actually be a different pane of glass in the Karma window. We are all connected by invisible glass in one window … called the Life window. When we hurt someone or when we pass judgment on someone … we are affected as well. Sorry. Life, for some reason, just likes to keep everything balanced.

What that means is you are probably better off (or more likely to be happy) if you attach what you care about (and Life objectives) with good intentions for other people. If you look at it selfishly, when your objectives benefit other people there is less difficulty in achieving them. Oh. And others will assist you. If you don’t look at it selfishly … well … just assume more good shit will happen in your life if you do good shit (and think good shit about other people).

– The Creation window

Everyone is creative and every one has unlimited creative potential. It is just how you define creation. Create art. Create financial success. Create the most awesome balance sheet your company has ever had. Create a kid that will be the next president. Everyone one of us has the potential to create some type of greatness. You just have to make sure the window is open and the blinds are open. Oh. And make sure you know that you actually have that window.

– The Neutrality window

Life is neutral. It does not play favorites. This is probably a derivative of the balance thing. In the absence of good & evil Life probably wouldn’t choose sides but rather stay in bed taking a nap. Life does not decide someone is more important or less significant. Life never randomly punishes. Life never randomly rewards. Nothing is random but pretty much (with some notable exceptions) everything is earned. Everyone is given an opportunity to learn something (which ultimately is the key opportunity for personal success). Everyone pretty much has a chance in Life (albeit it is tougher for some people than others).

– The Action window

This is the window right next to the neutrality window. In the absence of individual action Life will do its own things in its own time. Life does not just happen to us. It requires our active participation. Remember. Life is neutral. If you are inactive … Life is inactive <with you>. It will not take interest in you until you take interest in it. It is too busy paying attention to people paying attention to it.

– The You cannot Ignore ‘What is’ window

“What is” will evolve into “what will be” when ignored. That I guarantee. In other words … you will continue to receive what Life gives you even if you refuse to accept it. If we ignore our problems, they will only get bigger and more urgent. If we ignore opportunities, they will cease to exist. If we refuse to learn lessons from the past, larger, more serious, lessons will be given to us. If we obsessively pursue a goal or idea that is not right for us, it will elude us until we accept that we can live without it.

– The Stagnancy window

This one is the opposite side of the Action window pane. And this one is a warning. Stagnancy is addictive. What I mean by this is, if the view from your window is awesome, you can find yourself sitting there doing nothing but enjoying it. So. This I guarantee … it may be a beautiful view today but if you don’t move … and just stay there … it will lose its appeal. Stagnancy is the death of inner growth and happiness (or seeing beauty in life). When you do not use skills you lose them. Similar, without continuing effort in personal growth, you are doomed to fall back as Life continues moving. What happens then? Obsolescence. Life, and people, and thoughts, and whatever …. just pass you by.

– The Impatient window

Impatience is sneaky in life. Sometimes it can disguise itself as ambition or ‘goals’ or things like that. Because the allure, and desire, of success is something we all desire. And we may like the idea of instant gratification or easy success or short cuts … but deep down all of us know that things of value have to be earned. And that is where impatience rears its ugly head. You are peddling as hard as you can toward success … but as look through this window you are impatient, and it is challenging, because you want it NOW … but this window is about patiently waiting for the reward to come in its own time. Ok. This doesn’t mean you should be scared to do things nor shouldn’t be ambitious … this is more about having some common sense. Good things typically don’t come easy. If it were all that easy anyone could do it. Maybe learn to be patiently impatient for success.

– The Reality-based Optimism window

Here is a reality <2 of them actually>.

Negativity begets negativity. If you think negatively I can guarantee you will never attain happiness.

Uh oh. But. If you always think optimistically I can guarantee you will always be disappointed <sorry about that>.

So can you ever be happy? Yup. By being realistic, but being optimistic. A truth in this window? Good things DO happen to good people. Well. Let me be specific … that is ‘good people who exhibit some reality-based goodness’. By the way … for anyone who wants to debate the view from this window …. research (published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences) predicted in simulated models that generosity/trust pays. Mathematically they found it pays to be trusting in the long run even though you will sometimes be cheated (so that is how Santa can figure out how to assess naughty or nice).

– The Trade-off window

For everything you gain you have to give up something else. This is an unfortunately simple complex dirty window.

And the last.

– The Desire window

This window sometimes has a weird filter over it that makes things not look as they really are. What I mean by that is not everything we go after is what we truly want. Sometimes we only think we know what we want … and sometimes we don’t know what we want until we get it. Maddening? You bet. But everyone has this window. Unfortunately this window is most typically found in the main room so you look through it a lot. This window is also, individually, often the dirtiest. You will be tempted to go to other people’s houses and look thru their “desire window” and hope for some guidance. Sorry. No can do. Your Desire window is your Desire window. I kind of think they are like snowflakes … no 2 the same. You will probably not have a more aggravating window in your home. Too bad. Every home has one.

So.

There you go. I would suggest these windows are universal but will be individually dirty in different ways. At best you should try and wipe each one as clean as you can <smudgy is better than dirty>. While I made my personal experiences universal … I do look through other people’s dirty windows as often as I can.

Like the opening quote said … they offer a view … regardless of how dirty the view may be.

Creating a company takes more than an idea. It demands a vision. And visions are more difficult to sell than products. Because a good vision isn’t easily attainable but still remains worth reaching for.

Great visions are grounded by the practical pragmatism of what it takes to reach a destination which is often located somewhere over the horizon … unseeable but imaginable.

Our company?

We have a change the world attitude. We don’t mind being disruptive as long as it is with the intent to create something new and better. Smart disruption displaces the conventional and replaces it with an unconventional way to do things that actually meets what people want, need and expect.

We call what we are doing ‘shaking the category etch a sketch.’

Visions should be lofty and grounded.

Simple yet reflective of a complex world.

Pragmatic & practical yet not the status quo.

Bruce McTague <for his own company>

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Ok.

This is about having a vision, vision statements and thinking of a ‘place to go’ … a place to aim for … business and personal. This is about the pragmatic side of possibilities & the possibilities of pragmatism. You will find some practical stuff <because I have had to do it recently with several companies> and some … well … thoughtful stuff <because any time you work on vision projects you inevitably start thinking>.

Let me state upfront.

I am an admitted ‘hope vision’ type guy.

The vision statements I write and the visions I gravitate to almost always have some ‘bigness’ to them … always strive for aspirations … and attempt to offer a sense of hope … as in hope for something better in what we offer … maybe make things better in Life … certainly give people hope for something better.

This can be small hope <if I make nuts & bolts, my hope is everlasting strength … of something else>.

This can be big hope <if I am remaking how everyday healthcare is conducted my hope is … well … enabling people to live a better, fuller, Life>.

The bottom line with me is that a great vision, and visionary, has an idea of the world they want to be part of … and how they want to help create that world <whether it be in a small or big way>.

Regardless.

Let me get the practical ‘what is a vision statement’ crap out of the way first.

To be clear.

A vision statement shouldn’t be confused with a mission statement.

– Mission statements are present-based statements and reflective of your external existence. A mission statement answers the question “why does my business exist?”

– Vision statements are future-based and internally focused. A vision statement answers the question “who do I see myself as in a bigger picture <and where do I see my business in this bigger picture?”

A well crafted vision statement should communicate the company’s goals in a single sentence … or a few concise paragraphs … or in a tightly knit manifesto.

As you can see … a vision has no formula … excepting it should inspire. I believe visions are to be treated seriously … but is also a time for creativity, dreams and fun thinking.

They should stretch the imagination as well as offer some construct for direction and culture. A good vision statement will help set the company direction for employees as well as guide priorities … all the while challenging employees to think & grow & inspire <actions & attitudes>.

Develop a good vision and I promise you … a good strategy will follow <note: strategy never leads to a vision>.

Now.

The problem is that some vision statements consist of one vague statement which, frankly, anyone could say. Some are too long, unstructured and wandering reflecting not only a management’s lack of understanding of what a company really does but also reflects a lack of understanding for meaningful aspirational direction.

Suffice it to say … there is something called the Golden Bull award “for excellence in gobbledygook” for which many visions could be nominated.

I do believe the vision can be one of a company’s cornerstones. But I also believe that because there is so much <too much> importance being placed on such statements that businesses tend to sit down like it is going to a dentist … generates a vision … whether it is good or bad … and posts it up on some website to prove they have a vision.

Let me unequivocally state … I would rather have no vision then a bad vision.

Ah.

But a good vision?

A well articulated vision aligns a company <that is a good thing>.

And more businesses apparently need a well done vision because according to a Harvard Business Review study up to 70% of employees do not understand their company’s purpose & strategy <that is a bad thing>.

It’s bad mostly because failure to understand your company’s position typically leads to poor decision making <that’s the practical side> and leads to thinking commodity-like thoughts about your company <that’s the ‘value’ side> and, finally, doesn’t lead to any ‘wow, I am part of something big & purposeful & meaningful’ <that’s the aspirational side>.

Anyway.

Maybe it’s because I have been working with some people on visions and seen how excited they get when they truly think about how their little idea can actually make something better and how what they thought when they thought of their company was part of something bigger they had been thinking.

Oh.

And maybe that is why I like vision statements. I like aiming for something in the future. I like inspiring people. I like an organization that feels like it is doing something more than making something or providing some service.

I like that a vision aims for some “what” … as in what could be & what do we want to happen.

I like a vision that is so big that it is compelling, not only to everyone else, but to me.

And, yet, no matter how big a vision gets it is very specific in outlining who you are as an organization.

This may sound crazy but I have seen dozens upon dozens of companies who have not taken the time to define themselves … or … define themselves so broadly it is meaningless … or … the worst … create a bunch of beautiful words and then behave in a completely different way.

Look.

If you discuss vision with business nerds you will get so many definitions and suggestions your head will start spinning.

If you discuss vision within an organization it may start in a good place but inevitably will be dragged down by pragmatism and ‘clarity’ <see mindless drivel>.

Screw them.

Here is what I know.

Your vision is your dream.

It is your company’s north star.

And while its primary objective is to inspire and create a shared sense of purpose throughout the company inevitably it sets the direction for new products, company culture, future decisions, hiring and … well … everything.

It is dynamic beyond your own purpose.

That’s business and vision.

Uhm.

Which leads me to my second and last thought on visions and a ‘place to go.’

Vision statements are a well renowned business tool.

Why isn’t it a personal or individual tool?

I would encourage everyone to write one of their own <instead of pursuing some of that personal branding drivel advice>.

Here is the incredibly great thing about a vision … its big and it gives you some place to go.

This isn’t dreamer type stuff … albeit … the stuffy pragmatic jerkwads of the world tend to shove this type of thinking up many people’s asses.

Far too often if a young person, shit, anyone … writes down a vision for themselves you will see the people they share it with shaking their heads and saying “well, that’s nice, not very realistic, but nice …”

What shitheads they are.

A vision is some horizon. It’s a place to go. Something yet to be created but a directional north star for who and what you are as a person.

Let’s call it ‘your soul direction.’

I tell young people that they may never get there … and that’s okay … the most important thing is maintaining sight of the north star.

I think we lose sight of how important something like this is for everyday schmucks like you & me.

In a world in which far too often visions seem small & practical <therefore not really a vision> it seems like trees become the focus and we never see the forest. And if that is the case then how the hell do you even know you are in the right forest?

All you know is that there is another one of those frickin’ trees in front of you.

I will end with where I began … creating a great person takes more than an idea. It demands a vision. And visions are more difficult to sell than products.

Because a good vision isn’t easily attainable but still remains worth reaching for. Visions are difficult mostly because they are difficult to ‘sell.’

Sell? Sell to yourself as something practical and worthwhile <because Life has a nasty habit of suggesting there are more important things to focus on> and sell to others <because people have a nasty habit of being scared of big things>.

I would suggest to truly be happy in Life … Life will demand you have a vision.

I would also suggest that you will more likely be happier as a person if you actually have a vision.

I would also suggest stop trying to ‘sell’ anything when it comes to a vision.

Shit.

Do you think the night sits down every day wondering “how the hell am I gonna sell all those people out there that this star is the one that points North?”

No. It does not.

Direction & vision feels right. It doesn’t need selling. And, what the hell, if you are the one who can see the world you want to help create … only you can really see the direction to get there.

This is about eliminating “that’s stupid” from our vocabulary. What inspired me to suggest this?

The quote above that I saw on tumblr.

What do I really believe about my ‘eliminating stupid’ idea? Well. Realistically … this suggestion has about as much chance as an ice cube in Hell.

However.

Conceptually … this suggestion has a lot of merit. Especially if you take it out of the external world and think about applying it internally – as in … with yourself.

So.

Let’s take a minute and talk about the internal aspect — the “me, myself & I are stupid” type shit we tell ourselves in our own heads. I would suggest that far too often we think something … and say ‘how could I be so stupid?’

But.

Most times it wasn’t stupid. Most times thinking about something is simply iterative. It gets you from point A to point B … and on and on and … well … you get it. It just gets you … ‘on.’ <as in ‘forward progress’>

If it matters enough for you to have thought about it … well … it really does matter.

And it is not stupid. Value is in the thinking.

Look.

Trying to put a value on an individual thought is not only a slippery slope … but … well … stupid.

Ok.

Better said? … Worthless.

I say that because the Truth is an individual thought can rarely be assessed in a non-contextual way. In and of itself it may look of little value … it may even look stupid <in the moment> but in the grander scheme of things each thought is smartly leading to real thinking <and a real thought>. And real thinking is where individual thoughts can be made or broken. And, frankly, where you – your mind and how you think about yourself – get made or broken.

But suffice it to say … everything matters if it matters to you.

Ok.

But let me go to the external context for a minute. Huh? … How often do we say ‘that’s stupid’ when someone says something?

Alright … try this on for size.

We probably say it much less often than we think it. But does that make it any better?

Regardless.

Let me suggest … we think it a shitload of times.

Even if we are open minded, and being open minded, it is a knee jerk reaction <mentally>.

But.

Here is a Life truth you need to consider before you even think “biy, that’s stupid.”

Someone has chosen to speak a thought.

Someone has ‘braved’ the real world and opened their mind <and soul>.

So.

I would argue <and will> … if it matters … truly matters to that person … it is not stupid.

Additionally.

And we are stupid if we don’t think it matters.

Okay.

Maybe we aren’t stupid but rather displaying a fear or reluctance to make the effort to understand them.

Yup.

Fear they may be right <and we are wrong>.

Reluctance to change what we believe.

Therefore maybe WE are the stupid one.

Anyway … we just need to be more careful, or thoughtful, with regard to ‘that is stupid.’

I often believe this issue occurs because we have a habit of defining ‘smart’ in the wrong way. We judge smart on outcomes … and not process.

Yet.

Things are often not as they seem … people who seem to be doing something smart or stupid … may not be smart nor stupid.

Things, in a grander sense, are often not as they seem.

There is always more & changing information.

There is always more context to be gained.

There is often more to the story than what we initially hear.

So … in order to not be stupid you need to be … well … smart … as in being smart means not avoiding thinking.

Being smart means thinking things through.

Being smart is trying to find the real answer not the first answer.

Being smart means trying to understand what matters and what doesn’t.

Being smart means not jumping to conclusions.

Being smart is thinking “I don’t know” or “I am not sure.”

What’s not being smart? Saying ‘That’s stupid.’ Why? Because “that’s stupid”, more often than not, is typically a reflection, a sign, for stopped thinking.

Yup.

A stop sign for thinking.

Lastly.

If none of that really mattered to you … take a second and think about how the words ‘that is stupid’ taste in your mouth <or mind>.

If they are words you savor … well … you are the stupid one.

Ok.

Maybe you are just an egotistical asshole.

Or worse?

You are being a shithole to yourself <if it is words you say to yourself in your mind>.

If the ‘you are stupid’ words just don’t feel good … or taste very good when spoken?

Good.

And think about it.

In the end.

Everything matters if it matters to you.

And. If you truly believe that?

From here on out … assuming that what someone says, and thinks, matters to them will help you become smarter as you think about what they actually said <and why they said it> rather than simply rejecting it.

Yeah.

Simplistically … believing everything matters may actually make you a better person.

We talk a shitload about “business problem solvers” or “disruptors” or any number of ‘problem/solution’ type things in the business world.

Well … maybe we should talk more about the knots.

Knots?

Well.

I have eased my way into a number of new responsibility positions throughout my career and one of the first things you start doing when you settle in is scan for the knots that are inherently strewn throughout the business.

Sometimes these are nicely tied knots someone has developed and set in place to hold together a process or system or principle to insure it holds something important together.

Sometimes these are nasty tangled threads created by someone who didn’t know their ass from their toes, or by the system itself <think of a lawn hose by the end of the summer> or sometimes they are representative of well-intended actions by a variety of people over time <trying to improve or fix something>.

And while those are all “sometimes” … all times, all businesses, have knots.

That said. I can also say that untying knots is not for the faint of heart. To do so well is to be part safe cracker, part surgeon and part Navy Seal.

Ah.

But not everyone views knots the same – in how they occurred and what needs to be done to untie. I would suggest how you view a knot depends on whether you believe in cause & effect <a linear action model> or in a more ambiguous “a cause can create multiple effects’ model.

Let me explain a little.

When I started n the business world we spent a shitload of time discussing cause & effect, stimulus & response and … well … a lot of behavior based on a linear ‘if this, then that’ type model.

Not so much today.

In today’s world almost all situations <internal process as well as consumer/buyer behavior> are ‘knotty.’

I often show a picture of an atom in attitudes & behavior discussion but I like the knot metaphor also.

Uhm.

Yes.

This type of thinking, unfortunately, increases the likelihood of ambiguity. Ambiguity is not one of those things the business world tends to happily embrace.

To be clear. There is a lot to be said for teaching young business people cause & effect basics.

I liked growing up & learning the business world encased in a cocoon of certainty type thinking. Linear type thinking gave me some clarity and it certainly permitted some fairly easy conclusions and recommendations. Unfortunately I also found, over time with experience, this increases the likelihood of … well … a shitload of bad things – wasted energy, misguided efforts and monies being funneled into activity generating less-than-desired outcomes.

But.

It had been linear logic and, therefore, provided some certainty to base the recommended recommendations on.

Ah.

Certainty.

Certainty is something we all crave in business. But we may crave it for a slightly less obvious reason then you may think. Linear permits us to more easily get the one thing almost everyone wants – a way to get out.

Yeah.

It’s not really about solutions or answers … simplistically … it is awareness that there could be a way out.

Just think about it a little.

Most of us when faced with some situation, issue or problem just want a way out of that situation, issue or problem.

And, yet, we spend gobs of time talking solutions and most likely invest far too much time & energy extrapolating out “what of scenarios” in seeking what happens when we untie the knot and move forward. It’s quite possible we should be investing more energy, instead, on looking at a knot and simply seeking the best way out of the knot. And that is where linear thinking kicks nonlinear thinking’s ass.

With ambiguity, the way out is not only less clear but, at times, it can seem like a crapshoot –what is behind door #1, versus door #2 … as well as door #3?

And who the fuck wants that in any business decision making situation?

Which leads me back to knots.

As you move up in management, and Life I imagine, you either get better at seeing the knot and seeing how to untie a knot … or you remain a linear cause & effect decision maker.

I would suggest the world can use both; however, the world <business or otherwise> cannot exist solely with cause & effect decision makers. In addition .. each group and drive the other one frickin’ crazy. But … suffice it to say … we need knot un-tiers.

Being an un-tier actually consists of two aspects … one attitude and one expertise.

Attitude: personal responsibility.

You own the knot. This is a metaphor … a metaphor for a problem and owning the problem.

We all inherit problems. And the most successful of us look at them as knots, not ‘some simple fix <do this/get that>. The most successful of us don’t sit around bitching about the knots, whether they were there already or created by someone else, but go about assuming responsibility for any and all knots and go about untying as many of them as we can.

But here is the thing about this responsibility. We own the knot. We do so because we know that once we are in a position to get shit done … all that matters is getting shit done. And you know you have the responsibility to do what needs to be done to get shit done. It does no good to say “not my knot.” You have a job … they are all now your knots.

I would note that untying knots is kind of a “go big or go home”type venture. I say that because in business once you begin untying … well … you have to keep going. Knots, good and bad, exist for a reason … so eliminating, or rearranging, a knot will have consequences — stopping is not an option.

Expertise: ability to navigate the interweaving that binds a knot.

Untangling is part vision and part deft touch. Anyone who has ever untied an ‘impossible knot’ knows that you cannot simply tug & pull … you have to ease one aspect and pull another and maybe even push in other place. Deft. And as you do so you have the vision ability to see the unseen parts and get a sense of where one ‘weave’ has appeared and where it has come from, what it crosses and if it is actually entangled with another weave.

———

—–

I would suggest that this is partially an ability to navigate some ambiguity.

Ah.

That phrase ‘navigate ambiguity’ leads me to one last thing. Cause & effect thinkers can be a cleverly dangerous group of business thinkers to work with. Using the business knot as the example … the most dangerous thing a linear thinker can do is offer everyone the false linear cause & effect conclusion.

Huh?

Think of this knot as like shoelaces. The knot is there with the aglets <the small sheath, often made of plastic or metal, used on each end of a shoelace>. The linear thinker, incapable of untying the knot suggests the knots doesn’t matter because if I have the left aglet, and the right aglet, they suggest “I can clearly see the ultimate cause & effect”.

That is wrong. And dangerous for making a business decision.

Not to put this too harshly but that logic is like saying “I love all jelly filled donuts”not knowing some are filled with shit.

All that said.

I will say that once you have tied a knot you do assume some responsibility for it – keeping it, explain it or even untying it. I mention this because a lot of us leave positions, jobs & companies and far too often leave a knot behind with no explanation. Maybe we are embarrassed to highlight a knot or maybe we just start thinking “not my worry anymore.”

Well.

It doesn’t really matter what you think … you own the knot and you have a responsibility to talk about any and all knots with anyone who may someday want to untie it. I would also remind everyone … knots are created to be untied.

“I’m an adult” I whisper as I try not to panic while I’m filling in all those forms that I don’t understand.

======================

“Liminal” means “relating to a transitional stage” or “occupying a position at both sides of a boundary.”

==========================

Ok.

First.

Liminal spaces are real spaces.

Liminalspaces are throughways from one space to the next. Places like rest stops, stairwells, trains, parking lots, waiting rooms, airports feel weird when you’re in them because their existence is not about themselves, but the things before and after them. They have no definitive place outside of their relationship to the spaces you are coming from and going to. Reality feels altered here because we’re not really supposed to be in them for a long time for think about them as their own entities, and when we do they seem odd and out of place.

Second.

I plan on discussing liminal spaces as intangible mental spaces.

If you feel that you are anxiously floating in the inbetween perhaps you are in The Liminal Space. The word “liminal” comes from the Latin word limens, which means, “threshold.”

“… it is when you have left the tried and true, but have not yet been able to replace it with anything else.

Okay.

Mentally … this in-between is a space in which we have lost context … and … oops … our brains love context <and hate lack of context>. This ‘hate’ translates into discomfort, maybe some anxiety and absolutely an innate mental desire to get the hell out of that space and into some space where we can reengage some context.

Rationally we know these spaces are … well … irrational and we can mentally stifle the anxiety … for a while. Because no matter how good we are at stifling it there will always be an underlying sense of uneasiness. In business you either figure out how to manage the anxiety or you are never gonna make it in the business world.

Why? Because a career is riddled with these moments and spaces.

All that said.

I think we, as people, enter liminal spaces in our heads all the time. I don’t mean every minute I just mean on a fairly consistent basis we lose some context and enter into some wretched mental in-between space where … well … we feel uncomfortable. We feel uncomfortable because we are mentally in some transition space from which we cannot envision what will be there <outside this wretched space> when we actually find the exit we can leave the space by.

Yeah.

Unfortunately, while we seek an exit to get out of the liminal space … we also feel uncomfortable because <insert a ‘shit’ here mentally> the next step may actually place us into a tangible “unknown” place.

Not only does that suck but … well … we do not like it.

It is a weird combination of tangible and intangible … and shitload of unknown.

It feels tangible as in you walk in some blank-ish vanilla type room and actually exit by some door which appear at some point. That part we may not like but we can semi-understand.

And, yet, at the same time this space is truly 100% intangible <lacking context> which creates a sense of instability and warped perception space. I imagine a lot of people flail about a bit in this space trying to not only find context or something tangible to hold onto but also a frickin’ door to get out of this wretched liminal space.

All the while we flail about in a space naturally encourages some confusion and a lot of “things seem off” feelings.

Worse?

It not only feels wrong but feels like something is going to go wrong. You cannot really put your finger on it <although most of us try desperately to try to put a finger on something> and it increases anxiety.

Sometimes that anxiety is high and sometimes it is just a bothersome niggling in the head … but anxiety it is <and it is uncomfortable>.

The anxiety occurs because reality is not really being altered but it appears slightly warped. It is kind of like looking through an imperfect piece of glass – where things can look a little fuzzy or odd. Its kind of like time has warped a little and you are coming and going at the exact same time where in the blur of the transition your brain is suggesting “this is not good … this is not normal”and you desperately want to move n … but cannot find that frickin’ exit.

All that sounds horrible.

Oh.

And it sounds particularly horrible if we are talking about the business world.

The fact is that business people are more often than not judged on how well, and how quickly, they can navigate the mental liminal space. We in business don’t really talk about it much but a lot of the shit we do is transitioning from the known to some version of known/unknown. That’s kind of what managers and leaders do. And it is certainly a main component of shifting from a young less-responsible employee to an older more experienced responsible employee/manager.

Along the way the stepping stones are actually lily pads with differing expanses & depths of water in between. You either navigate the transitions or drown in the liminal space.

Oh.

And, yet, liminal spaces are also throughways to places of the imagination – kind of the construction sites of “what will be.”

We like that kind of shit.

That’s ‘future’ and ‘hope of something better’ type stuff.

That thought helps us out a little.

It helps because this isn’t the kind of stuff that gives any tangible context but it does give us some fortitude to get through this space.

Anyway.

I admit.

I love the whole concept of a liminal space and I do believe if more people not only learned to manage the anxiety & angst of a liminal space AND embraced the fact it was a valuable transitional space … well … we would be much more efficient & effective in business and in Life in gaining the more valuable “what could be’s” — which are what we all live for anyway.

“I eventually came to understand that in harboring the anger, the bitterness and resentment towards those that had hurt me, I was giving the reins of control over to them.”

―

Isabel Lopez

==================

“Beware of those who are bitter, for they will never allow you to enjoy your fruit.”

―

Suzy Kassem

==============

Well.

Spite and resentment is one of the least discussed business ailments in the business leadership and organization world.

What I mean is that businesses around the world <including the good ole USofA> are strewn with middle management and upper management who carry a full backpack of resentment. This backpack has a nifty well designed logo on it — victim.

I would imagine <this is a guess> that this significant sprinkling of people in the business world carrying around the resentment of being victimized in some form or fashion do not hold the most senior spots but rather they hold the responsibilities most dangerous to the overall health of an organization – middle management.

They are most likely not at the top because those people got the positions they deserve <mostly>.

The ones who carry resentment are the ones who have been promoted “too slowly” or maybe haven’t been “recognized for the talents they offer” or maybe have been passed over by “someone who doesn’t know half the shit I know” … and then … to their satisfaction … they have FINALLY been promoted.

They take the step up but before they do … stop at the bottom of the stairs to pick up their backpack of resentment … and then accept the step up.

I often think of this as the ugly underbelly of ‘entitled’ or “finally getting what one deserves.” This is … uhm … in other words … resentment. And resentment carries a nasty quiver of grievance arrows to shoot when given the opportunity.

And grievances have a nasty habit of being one of those things that like to be addressed and not ignored.

Now.

Some people confuse this with “carrying a chip on their shoulder” which is what got them to where they are today.

Uhm. That’s bullshit.

People mistakenly conflate “carrying a chip on their shoulder” with ambition.

It’s not as simple as that. In fact … that simplistic ‘go about business like they have a chip on their shoulder’ is actually just a lazy attitude toward motivation.

It is more often than not some self-created ‘boogieman’ someone has created in their mind in order to go out and be your best. That’s bullshit. If that’s all you have for motivation … well … that’s just not good <for you and the people you work with>.

Yes.

In small doses a ‘chip on your shoulder’ can give you some well needed nudges to “I will show them” attitude at some key moments.

No.

Large doses, or constant, “conducting myself with a chip on my shoulder” attitude simply makes you … well … an asshole.

You become an asshole because this 100% chip on shoulder attitude actually makes hate, in some form or fashion, the energy to drive everything – it creates an outsized sense of grievance which you bring with you wherever you go.

This grievance not only seems to pour from every pore in this person but also seems to appear every time this person makes a decision <if not in the words they say>.

Yeah.

The resentment people can be crafty.

Crafty in that they justify their behavior not just based on their outsized chip but more often that they are standing up for all who have been overlooked and begrudged of what they were entitled to by some unfair system or ‘cadre of assholes driven to let mediocrity thrive.’

It’s another version of us versus them but with a total selfish foundation.

In addition.

If they are good at masking their resentment, each decision, taken as mutually exclusive of all other decisions, can maybe be explained as a ‘personal issue being addressed’ or sometimes even simply an impulsive instinctual decision.

That’s bullshit too.

I am not suggesting all employees burdened by an unhealthy weight of resentment are actually bad managers and business people <in a pragmatic competent sense> but they do have a nasty tendency to have built this façade of some “personal brand” which they have honed over time as they have been ignored & overlooked so much so that all decisions and choices get instinctually filtered through this personal brand filter.

Nothing is impulsive, nothing is “resentment driven” and nothing is “addressing a grievance” … it is all simply driven by the personal brand.

What makes this behavior confusing to people <in terms of trying to discern motivations and the sense that there is an unhealthy amount of resentment incorporated into the management style> is that there is no long term strategy … it just assumes that all transactions meet the brand therefore, in the long run, it is good.

Exceeding expectations is defined in a transaction by transaction basis and weapons used to meet expectations <responsibilities> are justified a means to an end. In other words these managers can screw anyone they want professionally but if within that specific project, assignment or transaction the greater organizational expectations are met or exceeded … well … this manager has “won.”

Oddly … this behavior creates an odd sense of consistency … & inconsistency. It can often appear inconsistent in that the actions, behavior & decisions are not particularly driven by any business philosophy or ideology … or even based on what is right or wrong. This drives the appearance of inconsistency.

The consistency is grounded on vindictiveness. This doesn’t mean any and all actions are vindictive just that if the opportunity arises to address some self-defined grievance and the window of opportunity to be vindictive opens … well … this person will jump through that window.

===============

“I must fight with my weapons. Not his. Not selfishness and brutality and shame and resentment.”

―

John Fowles

===================

Here is the problem with all that I have shared today.

Resentment is part of the devilish trinity of bad shit in a business environment – fear, anger, resentment.

All the yesterdays make this person angry and humiliated and, frankly, they feel like they have been taken advantage of.

It creates a negative emotional foundation from which all behavior and actions are leveraged from.

I could argue that this is a cultural thing. Something like a “culture of entitlement” in which people feel like they are promised promotions & money simply because they work hard.

I will not.

This is an individual issue.

Individuals are responsible and complicit in this attitude and behavior – culture does not force them to do anything and think anything on this issue.

I could argue that this is some version of culture encouraging a larger sense of victimhood.

I will not.

This is an individual issue.

It is not victimhood if you shoulder your own responsibilities and are ‘punished’ if the chips do not fall your way.

I could argue that thus is some warped version of culture encouraging unrealistic expectations.

I will not.

This is an individual issue.

Expectations are defined personally … society and culture doesn’t tell you what to expect … you craft that expectation all by your lonesome. And, I have news for everyone, while Life & business can be pretty cruel and unfair, in general, those who have ability and work hard do not typically get overlooked or left behind. Hate to tell the “resentful managers” but … well … I feel pretty confident suggesting that as a basic business truth.

The only thing I will argue is that someone who has a big backpack of resentment should never be a leader.

Why?

Anger today.

Resentment of yesterday.

Fear of tomorrow.

That is the trio of partners in crime in this sad story. I have to tell you. I am fairly sure no business wants those three sitting in any one office every day in their business. And I am absolutely sure these are not qualifications one seeks in a new employee.

Be prepared. I almost always open with a quote but today I open with a sentence … a 198 word sentence written by Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr <father of US Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.>:

—————————

Many times, when I have got upon the cars, expecting to be magnetized into an hour or two of blissful reverie, my thoughts shaken up by the vibrations into all sorts of new and pleasing patterns, arranging themselves in curves and nodal points, like the grains of sand in Chladni’s famous experiment,—fresh ideas coming up to the surface, as the kernels do when a measure of corn is jolted in a farmer’s wagon,—all this without volition, the mechanical impulse alone keeping the thoughts in motion, as the mere act of carrying certain watches in the pocket keeps them wound up,—many times, I say, just as my brain was beginning to creep and hum with this delicious locomotive intoxication, some dear detestable friend, cordial, intelligent, social, radiant, has come up and sat down by me and opened a conversation which has broken my day-dream, unharnessed the flying horses that were whirling along my fancies and hitched on the old weary omnibus-team of every-day associations, fatigued my hearing and attention, exhausted my voice, and milked the breasts of my thought dry during the hour when they should have been filling themselves full of fresh juices.

——————————–

So.

When I read this sentence <read it several times in fact> I thought of “filling up” and “emptying out.”

Huh?

Oliver Sr. was no dumb shit. His brain was filled with more “kernels of knowledge sand” than most of us will ever be filled with. And, yet, he outlines how the knowledge works best when emptied of structured thinking and any specific destination but rather when “without volition” new thoughts are unharnessed by old learning rearranged.

Couple lessons in that:

New thinking is almost always simply a new way of looking at something everybody already knows.

In an age of instant gratification, smartphone access to any answer you would ever want and a belief that the fastest answer is the best answer it is good to remember that thinking is like baking. You have ingredients and you need to properly bake them to arrive at something special.

This isn’t to suggest that there is no hurry but rather you use the allotted time in the best possible way.

I worry more about the latter than I do the former in today’s world.

I worry about it because thinking is more often like what someone referred to Emerson’s writing as “a chaos full of shooting-stars, a jumble of creative forces.”

That is thinking.

Thinking doesn’t pretend to follow rules, enact some methodology or even use the words it is ‘supposed to use.’

—–

unharnessed the flying horses that were whirling along

my thoughts shaken up by the vibrations into all sorts of new and pleasing patterns, arranging themselves in curves and nodal points, like the grains of sand

fresh ideas coming up to the surface, as the kernels do when a measure of corn is jolted in a farmer’s wagon

—-

And more often than not, in an attempt to be more efficient in a time constrained world, we try and micro-structure our thinking.

It seems like as the world became more enlightened by mass media, structured education systems and “college for all” we have become … well … more sensible in our thinking.

Which brings me back to my opening sentence.

It breaks all the rules of not only how to write but how to think.

And, yet, it captures the essence of thinking … it certainly captures the magic of thinking … and, unfortunately to the thinking methodology Nazis, it certainly captures the practicality of freedom in thinking.

Our world today is strewn with catchy incorrect memes, rewritten history, faulty logic and misleading statistics all offered to us out of context.

The internet, while offering us a boundless offering of truth & facts, has only encouraged sloppy, lazy thinking.

It should be enlightening us but, far too often; it actually encourages some fairly absurd unenlightened thinking.

Thinking, and I mean real thinking, can cure this unenlightened cancer. The cancer is not social media or this absurd love of brevity … it is us and our thinking.

In thoughtful moments I tend to believe people know this. They know social media and smartphones and the internet is not the problem … it is us. Yeah. All those things make us susceptible to these wacky conspiracy theories, false statistics and alternative facts but they do not live unless we breathe life into them.

Look.

I do worry about thinking on occasion. Shit. I have even written about how I cried about thinking in today’s world.

I have a number of friends who send me memes and out of context quotes to make a point and ask me my view.

I probably send more time fact correct and making people aware of truth than I do sharing my own opinion. That worries me. in fact this is a direct quote from me:

======

But here is what really worries me.

If you, not a dumb guy by any stretch of the imagination, can truly believe even 75% of what you shared with me then what does the everyday schmuck believe?

That is what worries me.

=========

Thinking does take time and some space and … well … even some work <even if that work is to find empty space and not working>.

And, even then, the problem is that you can search the internet far and wide without finding a clear repudiation of some falsely stated, good sounding piece of untrue crap.

In fact.

If you do spend some time researching something you will more likely find a massive gap between public belief and expert knowledge.

There is often such a delusional gap between reality and “belief” it often seems absurd … and absurdly difficult to bridge the gap.

We need more thinking today than ever before. And, sadly, we need more thinking on simpler things than ever before.

Oliver Sr. was thinking on big things and big thoughts. And we need people like that.

What worries me is that in today’s world we need more people doing more thinking on the kernels of corn, the grains of sand and the horses themselves.

I worry about that because if we don’t have more people doing that kind of thinking all we will end up doing is rearranging unfortunately misguided untrue kernels of corn, fake grains of sand and unicorns not horses.

I imagine my real point today is that effective thinking is dependent upon tow things:

insuring we have lots of “true grains” of sand in our heads <not alternative facts or falsehoods>

insuring we have some time to properly jostle the kernels of corn <or grains of sand if you don’t want me to mix my metaphors> to rearrange them in new configurations

I don’t believe the world, society or any business wants us rearranging lies, fake and unicorns in order to form a better union.